Cult Followers From GTA Really Exist. They Even Tried to Reach One of the Developers
The line between truth and fiction blurs when it comes to Rockstar's satire - although the dev himself admits it could have been a nice money-making opportunity.
Games from the Grand Theft Auto series, set in the fictional United States, have drawn a lot from real life. Each part was filled with scandals, news, or events from the world of celebrities that fit into the realities of the times - and Rockstar has proven more than once that they aren't afraid of consequences.
The consequences of controversial marketing decisions aren't limited to threats and actual lawsuits. One former studio employee admitted to receiving a call from a cult created for GTA.
What is the Epsilon Program?
Twenty years ago, when GTA San Andreas was just being developed, Lazlow James and Dan Houser came up with the idea of creating a fictional religion. The Epsilon Program was an obvious satire of movements such as Scientology, created by Cris Formage. His goal was, of course, to "discover the truth" that everyone else is hiding.
In 2004, even an official Epsilon website was created, intended to encourage visitors to reflect on faith and to encourage potential membership. This was, of course, part of the marketing campaign for GTA San Andreas.
The sect regularly reappeared in subsequent installments, including GTA 5, where players can complete several tasks for them. None of the devs expected to hear about it in a real-life context because it's a work of fiction.
"Dying to know more"
Lazlow James recently gave an interview to IGN, during which he shared a disturbing story from his time working on GTA 5. The developer received a call from a woman who was a representative of the Epsilon Program, composed of players who had begun to follow the principles of the sect and wanted to learn more about it.
It's hard to determine whether the call was just a well-crafted joke by the fans. According to Lazlow, the whole thing seemed exceptionally convincing.
She genuinely sounded like she was a follower of the Epsilon Program (...). It’s crazy when you make a satire of something because we were very straightforward about it. We created a website for the Epsilon Program back in 2004, and all the copy on that, it’s in my mind very clear that it’s a money-grab, modern-day fictional religion.
-- Lazlow James
On the other hand, the dev admits that Rockstar could have benefited from the alleged naivety of the cultists, making money while creating a real branch of Epsilon. Who knows, maybe in GTA 6 we will see a reference to this situation?
